Troy Book: Selections

John Lydgate, Benedictine monk and prolific author of Middle English poetry, began writing the Troy Book in 1412 on commission from the future King Henry V. Taking some eight years to complete, the massive Troy Book adapted Latin and Old French accounts of the Trojan War into Middle English. Sweeping in content, grand in scale, the Troy Book exerted a powerful influence on countless later English writers such as Marlowe, Henryson, and Shakespeare. Like many of his contemporaries, Lydgate sees the Trojan War narrative both as historical truth and moral exemplar, a critical lens which transforms the story into an exhortation on the virtue of prudence. This edition presents selections from Lydgate’s much larger complete text, with prose summaries recapping omitted portions. Based on the Cotton Augustus A.iv manuscript, this abridged edition renders approachable Lydgate’s mammoth work to readers who might not otherwise encounter such an important text.